Singer Ludmilla featured on cover of ‘Forbes Brasil’ list of ‘under 30’ most promising people: With success, artist now wants an international career

Note from BW of Brazil: Whether you are fan of singer Ludmilla or not, you have to admit, the girl has come a LLOONNGG way! From her humble origins growing up in the Rio suburb of Duque de Caxias, the artist began her career as a YouTube sensation which eventually led her to signing a contract with a major record label contract with Warner Music Brasil. And since then the artist formerly known as MC Beyoncé hasn’t turned back!

Since her 2012 YouTube smash “Fala Mal de Mim” attracted 15 million views, the artist has released two full length CDs, appeared on various television programs, won awards and brought in a monthly seven figure salary. But for Ludmilla, this is only the beginning!

A sign of Ludmilla’s meteoric rise comes in the form of her appearance on the cover on of the world’s most important financial magazine, Forbes’ Brazilian edition. The singer is featured on this month’s edition that presents some of Brazil’s most promising, influential people under the age of 30. Congrats Ludmilla! Let the haters chew on this for a while!

Ludmilla is the cover of Forbes and confesses that she has plans to start an international career

By Yago Patrício

On the eve of her 22nd birthday, the carioca (native of Rio) Ludmilla Oliveira da Silva already has an agenda worthy of a pop star. Let’s talk about 2016. The funkeira (funk singer) saw an average of 20 shows a month last year, recorded her second album, A Danada Sou Eu (Warner), participated in an endless number of events of publicity and television programs, showed off her “samba no pé” (“samba in the foot” dance) in Carnivalesque rehearsals and parades and still took time to record a police report on racial offenses committed against her on social networks.

Sou Eu (official video) – Ludmilla

“I had no idea where I where I would end up. I just wanted to sing,” reveals Lud, as she is affectionately called, who until 2013 performed under the nickname MC Beyoncé, a tribute to the American pop diva, the woman with second highest number of Grammy awards (22). Of the things that success has given her, she says that the most important thing was to be able to keep the promise she made to her mother and grandmother. “I said I’d take care of them. And that’s what I’m doing today.”

Success, however, did not make her forget old and good times. “I miss staying at the gate, for nothing. Meeting friends in the spot with x-tudo (see note 1) and gossip,” she recalls. But returning to her new reality immediately when the subject is the future. “I want to speak English and Spanish, to have an international career.”

Note 1. In Brazil, it’s common to find lanchonetes, or little snack bar style restaurants where one can buy cheap lunches, sandwiches, salads, fried snacks, etc. In Brazilian Portuguese, the letter ‘x’ is pronounced in a way that sounds similar to the English word “cheese” and in these lanchonetes, it’s common to see the term cheese substituted on menus with the letter ‘x’.

Sample lanchonete menu

Hence, one can choose from a number ‘x’ sandwiches: X-burguer (cheeseburger), x-egg (cheeseburger with ovo meaning egg), x-salada (cheeseburger with lettuce and tomato) or x-bacon (cheeseburger with bacon). A ‘x-tudo’ literally means “cheese everything” which refers to a cheeseburger that can come with a variety of toppings, egg, ham, potato or almost anything else.

2 Comments

Wow! I’m amazed at her transformation (re: nose job). I guess she’s on the road to international stardom. Next procedure: skin bleaching. There is absolutely no way the people who make decisions on who skyrockets to superstardom without her removing all that melanin. Smdh! If I were she, I’d be appreciative of the accomplishments made in my homeland. But unless she’s willing to full throttle… I also observed she’s heavily influenced by Rihanna. She doesn’t just boast the hand tattoo, but she has a tattoo similar to the one Rihanna has between/under her breast.